Elastic-f



(No Model.)

R. H. SMITH.

ELASTIG FAGED PRINTING TYPE. No. 326,599. Patented Sept. 22, 1885.

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ELASTlC-FACED PRINTING-TYPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,599, datedSeptember 22. 1885. Applicath n filed January 15, 18F5. (No model.)Patented in England July 22. 188i, No. 3,191.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, R. HALE SMITH, of Springfield, in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Elastic Faced Printing-Type, (for which Letters Patentwere granted in. England, dated July 22, 1881, No. 3,191,) of which thefollowing is a specification and description.

l\/Iy invention relates particularly to that class of printing typehaving a hard body and an elastic printing-face, and which areinterchangeable and adapted to be set up in a form or stamp and used toprint any desired matter by hand-pressure; and it consists of a metallicor hard printing-type of the well known ordinary form, and having aprinting-character on one end made integral with the body, whichcharacter is covered around and upon its printing-face with a coating ofrubber or elastic compound vulcanized thereto.

In the drawings making apart of this specification, Figure I representsa plan view of a metallic printing-type having a printing-character (theletter a) of metal upon one end, and made integral with the body. Fig.II is a 1ongitudinal sectional View, enlarged, of the same metallicprinting-type,and prepared to receive the rubber coating vulcanizedthereto, the face of the printingcharacter being made rough for thatpurpose; and Fig. III is a sectional view, also enlarged, of the samemetallic printing-type, and having its printing character covered withthe rubber coating vulcanized thereon.

In the drawings, 2 represents the body of an ordinary printing-type,made, preferably, of the same metal of which the ordinary printing-typesare made, and having upon one end a printing-character (in this case theletter a) made of metal and integral with the body of the type, and allof the ordinary form used in printing. The face of theprinting-character is preferably made somewhat rough by drawing a coarsefile across it, or in any other convenient way, as shown in Fig. II, andthe character is then covered with a coating of rubber, both upon itsroughened face and also around the sides of the character and in all itsrecesses and cavities, by vulcanizing the rubber placed between a matrixtaken from a series of the type and a series of the type all the partsof the printing-character of each particular type, and the wholeseries,being afterward separated or cut apart, may then be used to setup any desired printing-matter in a stamp; and by applying any suitableink to the printing-face of the rubber coating of theprinting-characters fine and delicate impressions may be made therefromby a very light pressure of the-hand.

I am aware that letters or characters have heretofore been made uponWooden blocks by first gluing or otherwise attaching a sheet of rubbercloth or other suitable rubber compound to one face of the block, andafterward carving a letter upon it, removing the rubber from all partsof the surface except that portion forming the printing-faee of theletter; but it would of course be impossible to apply rubber coating tosmall printing-type in that manner or by any such means, because itwould be absolutely impossible to manipulate the rubber, either incutting out the letters or in applying the sheets to the type,andproduce the same results obtained by vulcanizing the rubber to the type,as hereinbefore described; and wooden blocks prepared in that manner,and as set forth in the'patent granted to P. Gfrorer, July 15, 1870, areonly suited and adapted to the coarsest class of printing such, forexample, as handbills, large posters, &c.whereas printing-types having athin coating of rubber vulcanized to their printing-characters areadapted to produce some of the finest and most delicate printed matter,owing to the thinness and uniformity of the rubber when properlyvulcanized to the print ing-character of the type.

I am also aware that metallic blanks with both ends made plane and flathave heretofore been used with a solid elastic printing-charactervulcanized to one'of its plane ends; but these printing-characters beingelastic their whole depth from their printing-face to the surface wherethey unite with the metal, their elastic quality renders them liable tobend over, some in one direction and some in another, and someflattening out more than oth- IOO ers, even in the same stamp and in thesame impression. This is very hard to overcome in taking impressionsfrom wholly elastic characters, from the fact that only a very slightpressure is required, and it is not always possible to apply thepressure in a perfectly-uniform manner by the hand.

The advantages of hard printing-type whose printing-characters are madeintegral with the body and are thinly coated with rubber vulcanizedthereto are manifest and many. Any kindrof suitable printing-ink may beapplied thereto by which to make the impressions without any liabilityof disturbing or affecting the chemical union at the uniting surfaces ofthe elastic substance and the hard material forming the type, or causingthe cushion to become loosened and disengaged therefrom,

whereas the sheets secured to wooden blocks by some adhesive substanceare liable to inj ury and will soon be rendered useless from the actionof the ink upon the adhesive material, (especially if certain kinds ofink are used,) the rubber faces of the wooden letters thereby soonbecoming loosened and detached.

In the elastic-faced printing-type herein described theprintingcharacter itself, being made of a hard material and with a thincoating of rubber vulcanized thereto, is comparatively rigid and cannotbend or easily become distorted in making an imprint, and they onlyyield to the hand pressure sufficiently to insure a perfect contact ofall parts of the print ing-surface of the character with the paper, anda perfect and uniform impression, as well as a great uniformity ofimprint in a series of impressions,is the result. I do not, therefore,claim any rubber sheets attached to the printingface of wooden printingcharacters or blocks; neither do I claim a metallic body or blank havingno printing-character and having a solid rubber or elasticprinting-charac- R. HALE SMITH.

\Vitnesses:

ALLEN WVEBs'rER, JOHN \V. HERSEY.

